Posted on 10/17/2005 5:40:57 AM PDT by Nasty McPhilthy
NASCAR had the opportunity to build on its fan base Saturday night when the UAW-GM 500 roared to life seconds after Southern California's 34-31, come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame.
NBC viewers who were curious about stock-car racing simply needed to stay put following college football's thriller in South Bend, Ind., where the Trojans charged past the Fighting Irish with three seconds remaining. But as the prime-time TV cameras cut to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., NASCAR failed to seize the moment.
A rash of tire failures sent a succession of cars slamming into the track's concrete retaining wall and scared drivers so witless they barely raced at all. Instead of dicing for position as NASCAR's best do so expertly, racers kept safe distances between one another and didn't push their cars to their limit, many said afterward, for fear of blowing a tire. Despite the precautions, the 500-mile race was halted for a crash roughly every 20 laps. Nearly all of the crashes were caused by blown tires; not necessarily the fault of the tire supplier, Goodyear, most drivers argued, but the result of speeds generating more heat and abuse than the tires could withstand.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I don't think so. Many of these tracks were around before TV. Also, how would this explain the popularity of local short tracks, and auto racing being the NUMBER ONE spectator sport in the world? Fan interest in auto racing happened long before NBC missed almost every restart for commercial purposes.
I think you need to change your name to oldgeezer..
:-)
Sure, NASCAR was popular in the south, but TV was the biggest reason it increased its audience to what it is today. Aggressive marketing was also another. That is why there are tracks all around the country now.
"Embarrassing Blowout for NASCAR"
IT'S BUSH'S FAULT!! :)
A good race car designer will get the absolute most possible from a car, not build a brick. If the engine expires just after the car crosses the finish line, that's perfect engineering.
It does no good to put a truck engine in a race car.
Old style NASCAR (read that as pre Politically Correct, pre even playing field rules, pre cookie cutter cars, pre Goodyear only and no restictor plate racing) would not be boring. Old NASCAR with today's TV coverage could be HUGE.
WTF??? The DH comes to Auto Racing.
Yep, NASCAR has "competition yellows" so that teams can change tires, check for wear, etc. UN-believable!
OK I would agree with that. My comments were directed to those that fall apart before the finish line, tires included, as a lot less than perfect.
It was the best race all year! What are people kavetching about? Instead of it being the boring race that is usually good at the last 50 laps the whole doggone thing was great to watch. The Busch race on friday was interesting because of the same problem. First time in years we watched an entire Busch race.
"What condition was the road surface?"
The road was ground smooth and was actually too good for tire speed. The underinflated tires at the begining did not help much either. There were a few blow outs due to debris. Overall the track was the way Clinton liked his women -hot, loose and fast.
That wasn't the Indy 500. That was F1's Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Is there a NASCAR standard for track surface quality/condition? If not, there should be. At 100-200MPH the drivers should have a standard surface to race on.............
I heard something to that effect also. The owner assured the drivers that the track will be resurfaced by next May. Sounds like the drivers were not happy with that track at all.
Now THAT'S racin'!!!
You missed a few points: Going 180mph in a pack of 15 cars while making a left turn without turn signals or brake lights.
Think of it as every commuters worst nightmare.
F1, CART, etc. are all so great too. All those left turns and right turns inter-mingled is awesome. And once every 15-20 laps, someone may actually attempt to pass another car!!!
"Is there a NASCAR standard for track surface quality/condition?"
There is a standard of quality on a track by track assessment. The standards of rail safety and degree of bank are in agreement with NASCAR standards. All track safety devices are NASCAR mandates. Actual track maintainance is the track owners responsibility. With the newer tracks California and Texas there was a hand in hand development. Charlotte is a great track and was a little wavy in the past. Due to some complaints the wave was ground down and now we have a speed monster that no tire was ready for.
If they resurface the track there will most likely be the new polymer that was used in Texas aplied to the asphalt. This polymer gives more adhesion to the car.
During the Japanese Grand Prix a couple weeks ago, Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen passed another driver (Alonso I think) on a very sharp turn with maybe a lap and a half left in the race. I watched the replay at least a half a dozen times and I still couldn't believe it. Hell, jockeys in horse racing don't pass other horses like this, let alone seeing it in motorsport.
The announcer said that pass was worth 100 NASCAR style passes......and he was right.
I respect the skill involved in NASCAR racing, but for my money F1 is so much better it's not even the same sport.
To each his own.
But to try and argue that "racing is not driving in circles making all left turns..." blah blah blah. Whatever.
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